The current approach for communication system expansion for U.S. military communications systems is to replace existing or legacy communication equipment with an entire new system. This is typically due to legacy equipment having been designed and optimized to support a single method of communicating (called a waveform), such that it becomes impractical to modify such legacy equipment to support other communication techniques. Historically, the designs of the legacy equipment have been primarily implemented with hardware circuitry that cannot be modified once the equipment has been fielded. Some portions of the designs have been implemented with microprocessors running software applications designed uniquely for the particular equipment.
With the adoption of software defined radios and the Government's Software Communication Architecture, those limitations will no longer constrain system upgrades. However, realization of that benefit necessitates the procurement and fielding of communication systems that employ these new approaches. These new systems are under development but are projected to be fielded at a significant weight, power usage, size, and cost.
Because legacy communication equipment is designed for specific waveform operation, adding new capabilities requires redesign and replacement of the original radio. Typically, the new capabilities are so different from the original that significant modifications to the supporting platform are also required, resulting in a cost that can be larger than the replacement radio. These platform modifications can include additional voice intercommunications system connection, additional platform DC power conditioning (or duplication of the power conditioning in the replacement radio), replacement radio shock isolation/mounting tray unit, and others. Installation of the replacement system, with the necessary platform modifications, requires the platform served by the communication system be taken out of service and returned to a depot maintenance facility for the work to be performed.
This has led to developmental efforts in providing an expansion module that can be assembled and secured with the existing communication system in the field such that the expansion module communicates with and provides such additional capabilities to the communication system without the requirement of replacing the system altogether. An expansion module that can be fastened to the existing communication system in a side-by-side arrangement has been described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/617,778, filed Dec. 29, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
However, one problem associated with connecting the expansion module with the existing communication system, particularly when the communication system remains installed with a support structure (e.g., installed in a mobile vehicle), is that the connection port for the communication system is at a location on the system that may be difficult to reach or may be in a small or tight space that renders it difficult for connecting with any other device. In addition, the further capabilities to be provided to the communication system may require mating connectors that can accommodate a variety of different types of signals and/or the ability to transfer electrical power over the connectors.